(Feb 2): If a billionaire from Malaysia has his way, Asian tourists will soon be flocking to the Borscht Belt region in the Catskills Mountains that was once the summer home for generations of Jewish New Yorkers.

Empire Resorts Inc., controlled by Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Bhd, on Feb 8 will open Resorts World Catskills, a US$1.2 billion ($1.57 billion) casino, hotel and entertainment complex at the site of the old Concord Resort Hotel, the largest of the upstate New York resorts that helped launch the careers of Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Joan Rivers and other Jewish comedians.

In a bid to revive the upstate economy, New York awarded licenses in 2015 to Empire Resorts and two other casino operators for Las Vegas-style resorts. That gave Lim’s companies a new opening.

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